With the GOP Health Bill, Don’t Let Perfect Be the Enemy of Good – Real Clear Markets

The good should never be the evil of the perfect. The Paul Ryan health-care bill is a very good first step. Massive repeal of Obamacare tax hikes will be great for the economy. Getting rid of the Affordable Care Act mandates will be great for health care. Private-sector competition and choice are always better than government-run anything. The GOP has to practice bipartisanship within itself.

All this health-care reform stuff makes my head spin. And that’s why I’m putting all my conclusions at thetop of this piece.

I think the House and Senate GOP can make the Ryan blueprint even better. And I’m hopeful that the congressional leadership, along with the Trump administration, will do just that.

But let’s just review a couple key points about the Ryan bill — or the American Health Care Act (AHCA). (There’s no way to go through this whole deal.)

First, there’s no point in obsessing over the CBO numbers. Their Obamacare enrollment predictions were so off the mark that there’s no reason to believe their estimates for the AHCA will be any better. And we have so little experience, so little data, and such massive reform, I don’t think anybody could accurately model it.In this case, policies, not forecasts, are the key. Americans are a lot smarter than the professors think.